Sunday 8 May 2016

J is for Jane's Journal

The weather for the last few days has given us a real feel of mid summer rather than mid spring. On Friday the temperatures in the south were hotter than in Spain. In my sheltered garden the wall thermometer hit the dizzy heights of 26c. This wonderful heat is really being enjoyed by the trees in my neck of the woods, I snapped these photos as I walked to get some shopping.
 The horse chestnut is flowering...getting ready to make conkers....
and the cherry blossom is looking delightful

For the dictionary challenge over at the Craft Barn this fortnight the letter is J.......with a dragonfly! Yes it made me stop to think too. I  wanted to combine it with some fun new May challenges so I had a little think about what to make. You would be amazed what goes on in my head and how my projects come into being. I made my dragonfly first by stamping and embossing my Visible Image dragonfly and adding glossy accents to the wings. I then fussy cut it out

I thumbed through my vintage dictionary and from the J pages the word " Journal" jumped out at me. As I am making art journal pages it seemed the perfect word to use.

 I smiled as I read the definition and thought that journal also seems quite an old fashioned word. I imagine Victorian ladies writing in their journal using fountain pens (I still use one!).

My blog is called Jane's Journal and often wonder if one day my descendants will still be able to access it to see what I got up to?  Wouldn't it have been amazing if our ancestors had been able to blog! This also gave me the idea to use one of my vintage family photos as the focal image for my project.

This is my great grandmother Florence Emma Alice...I love this photo, she looks so elegant.


 she was born in 1882 and sadly died at the age of 34, within months of my great grandfather's death. They apparently shared a very deep love for one another. I obviously never knew Florence but my own Nan had been told that her Mother died of a broken heart.



















I wanted to create a very vintage appearance for my journal page. I added the rest of the J page from my dictionary.







I added stencilling using texture paste and archival ink. I built up my layers and textures using distress inks and sprays. I wanted to achieve a very Victorian look.
 I also added some purple mica spray.


I had some snippets of vintage looking paper left over from some cards which worked perfectly as a collage to mount my photo on to. I also die cut some floral frames and elements and cut a snippet of lace to add to the vintage feel.

It was then time to put on my creative hat and assemble my journal page.







Here is my finished journal page.


and one last arty shot

I really think the dragonfly adds to it....it reminds me of the insects that were preserved by collectors years ago and often kept in glass domes or glass cabinets alongside butterflies and other insects.

I would like to enter my Journal page into the following challenges;

The Craft Barn dictionary challenge J is for journal
Anything but Cute celebrate my style I love making art journal pages and this one is even more personal using my Great Grandmothers photo.
Pixie's Snippets playground #228
The Ribbon Girl any image goes
Crafty Calendar things with wings
Happy Little stampers Mixed media, shine my stamped and embossed dragonfly has glossy accent
wings and my mica spray also gives some shine.
Pile it on 3/3 garden creatures
Rhedd's creative challenge altered art/mixed media
The artistic stamper 3/3 Collage
Our creative corner 2/3 hit the books  I have used my vintage dictionary pages
We love to create 1/2 anything mixed media

The weather today is glorious and it's a Daisy and Co day for us...the beach and a BBQ beckon...woop woop!
Enjoy your Sunday.

Thanks for dropping by and for taking the time to leave your kind comments,

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

35 comments:

  1. Love it! All the elements come together perfectly.

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  2. Wonderful journal page Jane! I loved that you used a real family photo, and what a lovely notion about our ancestors being able to blog, that really got me to thinking! Beautiful colours and I love the layered frames. Your world is exploding with green, I just love those cheery blossoms. We are off to the Japanese Gardens today, keep your fingers crossed for me that the cherry trees are in bloom! hugs :)

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    1. Oh my, I was all caught up and totally forgot to say Thank you so much for joining us at Anything But Cute for our 'Celebrate Your Style' challenge! Hugs, Pamellia DT :)

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  3. I love seeing your journal pages they make me smile. Enjoy the sunshine at the beach :)

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  4. Beautiful, Jane,

    I just love these vintage inspired creations of yours, and that dragonfly is so pretty. Weather is fantastic here too, enjoy your outdoors-day!

    Yours,
    Mia

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  5. What an incredibly clever way to get around that horrible dragonfly twist. Your thought process always intrigues me, and I always enjoy following along on your journey until the very end. Hope your weather is still perfect.

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  6. Oh Jane! This is stunning and so sentimental. Your photo is the icing on this art journal cake! What a lovely and wonderful way to show your style and remember your family! That dragonfly is awesome sauce and adds the perfect finishing touch to this layout. I really enjoyed how you used the definition of journal in this. Your frames around the picture are intriguing and so wowzers! If I may ask-what die is that ornate square? You have totally and enthusiastically captured your style! FANTABULOUS!

    Thanks for joining in our "Celebrate Your Style" challenge at Anything But Cute and celebrating our Anniversary! Hugz! ~Niki DT

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  7. True inspiration Jane...lovely pics and a stunning creation.

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  8. What a story of your grandparents.. she was very beautiful.. so sad to lose her at such a young age. You did a wonderful job on your project. ❀.•❤•.✿.•❤ Happy Mother's Day! ❀.•❤•.✿.•❤ ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  9. What a beautiful journal page Jane and a great idea to use the journal definition from your dictionary. A beautiful family photo and how sad that your great grandparents both died at such an early age. Barbxx

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  10. A lovely, very personal journal page.

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  11. I love old photos because there is living history captured at that moment and you know it was someone's child, mother, father, friend. I loved what you did with this page and the dragonfly is perfect as it represents light and transformation

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  12. A fabulous addition to your paper and online journals Jane. I love the stencilled background and additional elements and that gorgeous photo of great grandma Florence. Wow, hasn't the weather been amazing, the fence has been painted, the decking scrubbed and sealed and pots are being planted up, oh yes and the grass is getting greener.
    Have a great week.
    Hugs Brenda xxx

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  13. Such a lovely journal page! Thank you for entering your project at Rhedd’s Creative Spirit. Sammy-x

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  14. Absolutely beautiful journal page Jane. I love how you worked the journal words and dragonfly in. A lovely photo of your great grandmother - such a sad story, so very young. Sigh.

    Sorry I'm a bit late hopping round to comment, the sunshine yesterday was just too tempting!

    Hugs

    Di xx

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  15. Hi Jane - this is such a beautiful journal page. Beautiful great grandmother too. Love all the elements you have used on your page and the colours so suit the vintage feel.
    Thanks for joining us over at Crafty Calendar this month. Hope to see you again - good luck!
    Hugs,
    Bev (DT)

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  16. How sad they both died so young, but you've made something beautiful with her memory. It's nice to see her good looks got passed on. I hope you had a happy Mother's Day!

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  17. This is such a beautiful vintage journal page, Jane! I love how you collected so many elements together to add to that wonderful old photograph. Such a special keepsake.
    Isn't this weather gorgeous? I hope you had a lovely Sunday and enjoy your week ahead!
    Helen xox

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  18. Good afternnon, Jane! We've been having a lovely time enjoying the barmy British weather (again!), one thing's for sure, it's never boring - with four seasons in one week, it certainly keeps you on your toes! We managed to get a BBQ on Saturday, I've been doing some gardening and we got to sit out and sunbathe (sort of!), the only down side is that it does nothing for my craftiness!
    Love your pretty art journal page and it's fascinating to see all the layers build up to the finished result. A beautiful photograph of your great grandmother and the dragonfly finished the page wonderfully!
    Hope you had a lovely weekend, but then you were having Daisy time so enough said! Here's hoping Mother nature doesn't turn to Autumn too quickly...we haven't had Summer yet, despite the recent warm spell! Enjoy it whilst it lasts! Hugs, Lisa x

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  19. Before I forget, it was so fun seeing your garden and now you have given us some more wonderful photos of your beautiful spring. So glad you take your camera with you when you are out and about Jane. But let's get on to your SPLENDIDLY SPECIAL project. I adore that incredible picture and the bit of history about your great grandmother. And how amazing that you found a vintage "journal" definition too. Your creation looks like something I might have found in the attic in a box a memories! It has such a REAL vintage look. It's STUNNINGLY SWEET and PRECIOUS. What a treat to see such YUMMINESS. And Wow - you gave us TWO at Our Creative Corner for the Hit the Books Challenge. Thanks bunches. j.

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  20. Brilliant vintage journal page Jane. The dragonfly is a lovely embellishment xxx

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  21. This is so gorgeous!! I love that you used a family picture!! She's so elegant and beautiful!! The layers and details are fabulous!! Love, love the dragonfly!! Thanks so much for playing along at Anything But Cute for our Celebrate Your Style Challenge!! Have a great day :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  22. What a wonderful page! I love that you used the picture of your Great Grandmother.

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  23. Jane I'm smiling as I read your comment about the temperature. It is mid Autumn here and the temp today was 26C! Everything is confused! What a personal piece you created. It is lovely! Thank you for linking to Rhedd's Creative Spirit this month.

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  24. What a beautiful tribute to Florence ( I've always loved the name)
    Your AJ page is fantastic Jane!
    xx

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  25. So glad you shared your beautiful card and photos--gorgeous all around! thanks for sharing!

    Toni
    HLS DT

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  26. This is such a beautiful vintage page ! thank you so much for sharing it with us at The Artistic Stamper
    WIshing you good luck to win beautiful stamps !

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  27. Oh Jane, everytime I come over here I am blown away with your creative talent and the fun stories that go with it. I was intrigued by the picture of your ancestor and found myself wondering what her life was like. I liked how you you layered the vintage paper embellishments and texturing, the position of the Dragonfly as if it just popped over for a visit. I loved the "journal" dictionary entry. Wonderful project. Thank you for submitting this to the "Hit the Books" Challenge over at Our Creative Corner. - Candice -

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  28. Your journal page is fabulous! Aren't you lucky to have that picture of your great-grandmother. I have often heard that couples who have a very deep love and connection, die within months of each other. I do think there is something to dying of a broken heart. I would love to have that furniture in the photograph!
    Sandy xx

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  29. Oh my goodness, this is just amazing! I love old photos, I have quite a few of old family members and what you have done with yours is beautiful! Thank you for entering The Craft Barn Challenge.
    Jane x

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  30. You incorporated the dragonfly twist perfectly and created a beautiful page.

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  31. Gorgeous project hunni thanks for join in the fun with us, hugs Aly xxx

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  32. Fabulous journal page. Thanks for playing along with the HLS Mixed Media Challenge xx

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  33. Such a fabulous journal page Jane and so special with your family photograph. Thank you for joining us at Our Creative Corner for our Hit the Books Challenge. Jennie x

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  34. Wonderful mixed media and great way to fulfill the "Shine" challenge with the gorgeous dragonfly covered in glossy accents. Thanks for joining us at Happy Little Stampers.

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Jane x